nukblazi

I have my mirrors set as such as well. I was backing out of a driveway, into a busy road, in which there were parked cars on the road. Even with the mirrors set properly, there is a blind spot for me, might be that I have the seat so low. But I have heard other owners mention it.

Style. See, I think the new 7 and the Z4 are formidable, just ugly. Then again, the w203 grew on me, but I like the w202 body style much more. I am not big on the "carved bar of Ivory handsoap" look, but I don't know many people that agree with me.

dswildfire

yeah backing up is a PITA, bc i just can't judge the distance left, which means i usually have extra space, but it bugs me. and that litlle bit of clearness in the polycarbonate doesnt help all that much. about now is when parktronic would be handy.

nukblazi

I gotta say, dude(!) I have one of those ole school driveways with just two strips of concrete, and the drive is about 50 yards long, with the house on one side, and shrubs on the other. The entrance is narrow as hell.

I have to swing to far side of the road to get the car straight enough to get in without clipping the wheels. I also can't go "straight" on to the drive cause I'll clip the front bumper.

Backing out of this thing is a mother. It is also at such a downward angle from the garage, that you lose sight of the ground while backing up. I am re-paving the PITA drive this spring.

vadim

Alfa-Romeo 156... Instantly fell in love with that thing when I rented it in Holland 2 years ago. Too bad they are not present in the N.A. market.

FrankW

yeah, My brother's friend has that car in Taiwan. The interior is very nice. Alfa came into the US market at the wrong time. They just couldn't back up what they were selling back at the time. I still see one 144 around the area that I lives in.

Outland

I like many aspects of the new beetle interior...the design and style, as well as the unusual packaging. The material selction and graining is very impressive for the class of car...I very much enjoy the fact that the interior materials do not try to imitate organic textures. The synthetic texturing is a refreshing change from the standard plastics cast with graining that looks like some long extinct species of naugabeast. However, I'd rate its build quality and fit as low.

bensitto

I was on the highway last weekend and a 330ci peeled out next to me. He had at least a 3 car start on me. Caught him in about 1/4 mile and I could notice his car struggling, Passed him at 140mph with 4 people in my car. don't know what the speed limiter is on the 330ci, but i thought it was 135 on mine. Guess not. =) The H&R cup kit felt real tight going that fast. So stable.

Jens C320

Speedlimiter on US Spec 330 is 128mph (on my 2000 328i it was an "indicated" 134mph). On my 2003 C320 the limiter is at an indicated 132mph (MB states 130mph). Once I raced a 2002(?) C320 and we where even pretty much the entire time until he "blew" by me once I hit my limiter. The C320 seemed to pull better while I was in 3rd in my 328i but after that the C320 was slowly loosing. While I was in 2nd gear the cars accelerated evenly until I got over 5500rpm and I gained slighty, but once I shifted to 3rd I started loosing, until once again I got to about 5000RPM (I suspect each time I got to the high RPM's the auto C320 shifted to the next gear giving me a slight advantage), once I hit 4th though the C320 never was able to gain on me. I am not completely sure anymore (it has been almost a year now) but once I hit my limiter there was at least a 5 car gap between us. Well the race wasn't completely fair, I had a manual and the C320 a automatic. But then the BMW only had 193HP while the C320 had 215HP. I am not sure how the extra weight of the convertible version of the 330 would affect performance, but I would assume a 5 Speed 330i against a 6 speed C320 would prove the BMW to be the faster car. After that my friend let me drive the C320 on the same stretch of Autobahn and granted the C320 didn't have the sport suspension and my 328i did, the C320 didn't feel as well planted, the front swayed slightly unlike the BMW.

Before some one claims that I am full of BS and that the C320 would have won or that due to the limiter it didn't "blow" my doors off, I had a US Spec 328i and my friend a German Spec C320 (actually his was in for service and he was driving a rental car, not sure about the rental agency but I think Sixt). And the 328i actually wasn't my car at the time, I was still in high school in Germany at that time and the car belonged to my mom. Hopefully I have mentioned everything needed so I don't get BS from anyone.

vyse

Wow, you disliked the interior of the TT? I love it It's like a sportier and flashier version of the Beetle. To be honest, I think BMW and MB both have horrid interiors. In my opinion, VW/Audi has a much cleaner and elegant dash than either BMW or MB. I loved the red lighting, it's absolutely gorgeous compared to the ugly orange in the MB. The blue-lighted speedometer looks nice too!

One thing I like about BMW is how they keep the window buttons next to the shift where it's easy to reach unlike the W203. But personally I don't like the aluminium on the BMW. Sure the aluminium in the CL203 is trendy, but hey, if we didn't care about trends, we shouldn't care about the styling at all.

mongoman

The C230 is" toad like "in accelleration compared to the 330. Don't bet any dough racing the 330.

viper

I have to agree with this. The 3 series interior looks cheap and that stupid fuel economy gage they put on the dash is just plain silly. But of course the BMW purist will insist the interior is totally functional.

Iceman's C230

The BMW 330Ci is a very SHARP looking car. I said that before on this forum. I like the way it looks with that M package on it. But i guess every one has a different opinion on the interior then i would. It is all personal taste.

I even told my friend that i was not tooo crazy about the interior of his car. He wasn't Mad at me. He told me everyone he took for a ride had different opinions about the interior of his car. But almost everyone liked the way Body style look.

The car is not broken in yet. That's why i couldn't feel the power. But the 0-60 numbers confused me a little. Why would BMW miss print such important Info like that on their cars? I think every young buyer looks at performance numbers before they buy their new car.

J P

The look & quality of an interior is very subjective but all the editorials (Consumers Report, Edmunds, Car & Driver, Road & Track) either have the 3-Series & C-Class tie or the 3-Series interior ahead (I like both).

I don't think it was a misprint, more likely you misread. Also, the times you listed were 0-100 km/h NOT 0-60 mph. The 330xi's (awd) official 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) is 7.5 s, not the 330Ci (coupe). BMW Canada

The manual 330xi's official 0-60 mph is 6.9 s. BMW NA

calvol

The 330i is just a step above the 230C in performance and handling. It's a true sport sedan, whereas the 230C is more like a sporty coupe.

While the 330i is a little austere in cabin appointments, such as the cup holder, it has much better components, e.g., the steering wheel switches are much better quality, than the whimpy ones on the C230. I was playing with the cell phone switch on the C230 and it felt like the covering might peel off like the skin off a grape. Also, the center console switches and knobs feel like something out of an erector set, esp the temp control knobs.

I do like the roomy feel of the C230 cabin, as MB engineers designed the dash to fall away from the driver, as opposed to protrude into the cabin, as the 330i dash does.

On acceleration, there is no match. The 330i is a near-6 second 0-60 mph car, depending on who's driving. It will beat the C230 like a rented mule everytime in acceleration tests by a full second in the 0-60. While the C230 has my favorite I-4 design with the supercharger (over the A4 and SAAB turbos, and the pitifully low-torque Honda VTECs), it is no match for the smooth Bavarian I-6 that pulls with awesome power all the way to redline.

nukblazi

To the above post, my friend purchase a 03' 330i sedan. He broke it in the way he wanted and on Sat. we got to play. He has the automatic touchshift thing. I have the 6 speed manual C230 coupe.

Off the line I was able to get the jump on him but by the end of second gear he along side of me and after the shift ahead but NOT pulling away. After 70 mph he did start to pull away put leveled off at the end of 4th gear. We went all the way to my speed limiter. Lots of fun.

Rolling starts at 40 miles per hour (3rd gear for me), we pulled very evenly the whole way, he would get short gains when I had to shift that I could not re-gain, despite nearing redlining and reving into each shift.

Regardless, not bad IMO. I asked him, he was not holding back.

Goldeni245

eh, my CLK320 can beat any stock 330Ci off the line and on the autobahn.

The 330Ci beats my C230K easily off the line but it doesn't totally blow it away, the c230K can keep up with it behind 1-1 1/2 car lengths. The c230K sedan has a lot of torque on the lower rpm range.

FrankW

C230k coupe's claim time by MBusa is 7.2 0-60 with the manual trans. 330i's 0-60 is 7 sec with the steptronic trans. They are not that much different. With good launches, both can get better time than that. Or the other way around.

The manual trans 330i will smoke the C230k coupe under the same condition.

Goldeni, that's if the 330Ci is a auto. CLK320 won't get any anywhere near the 330Ci if it has the manual trans and the driver knows how to drive.

ehh...we don't have AUTOBAHN in the US. ...

calvol

Nublazi, if your friend had a 5-speed manual instead of a slushbox, there would've been a greater difference. The slushie 330 is about 1/2 sec slower in the 0-60 because of greater weight and torque converter losses. Nevertheless, the 1.8L engine in the C230 is very impressive, but I can't believe the C230 is such a pig, weighing in at 3250 lbs! That's only 100 less than my 330i sedan!

J P

Automatic 330i
0-60 mph (mag's avg): 6.6 s
1/4 mile (mag's avg): 15.0 s

Manual C230 K coupe
0-60 mph (mag's avg): 7.4
1/4 mile (mag's avg): 15.6 s

I tend to ignore manufacturer's claims, because they're either too conservative or too optimistic.

nukblazi

calvol,

Luckily, I have the 2.3 M111. But I know that the 5 speed manual with the 330 would have increased the gap. It was just nice to see that the coupe wasn't as badly destroyed as so many people here have assumed it would be. This guy is a good driver, he knows how to use the touchshift, torque launch, etc.

I still am curious what the difference would be in the coupe with the right gearing and a five speed. The additional shift does nothing for the 0-60. The other annoying part is in cornering. 3rd is too high to enter a good turn, and 2nd is too low to exit in, mid-turn shifting sux.

calvol

Nublazi,
Interesting comment about the 6-speed gear ratios. It appears the top gear of the 6-speed is the same as the top gear of the 5-speed automatic, so I thought the manual would allow more flexibility in the 2-3-4 range where you need to drop a gear to accelerate. With the 5-speed, 3rd gear is the passing gear. What is the equivalent passing gear(s) with the 6-speed (3 or 4?)

I wish my 330i had a 6-speed when I bought it, mostly for an overdrive gear for better fuel economy and to lower engine wear. The 330i 5-speed has a direct 1:1 drive in 5th gear which reduces gearing losses and improves gas mileage, but the engine RPM seems a little high at 75 for a six cylinder-- I think it's about 2800 RPM.

What is the RPM in 6th gear with your C230?